This study aims to produce efficient and effective group writing workshops for students within the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. To balance two opposing theories in writing center pedagogy - the direct instruction theory and the student-led/ collaborative theory - this study also aims to determine whether a balanced combination of these approaches in writing workshops will increase student confidence in their writing abilities. Several writing workshops were held over Zoom utilizing a combination of direct teaching methods and collaborative techniques. Students were then surveyed to determine whether they found the workshops helpful, learned new skills, and/or grew more confident in their abilities. The student responses proved the hypothesis that a combined approach leads to an increase in student confidence.

Over 40% of adults in the United States are considered obese. Obesity is known to cause abnormal metabolic effects and lead to other negative health consequences. Interestingly, differences in metabolism and contractile performance between obese and healthy weight individuals are associated with differences in skeletal muscle fiber type composition between these groups. Each fiber type is characterized by unique metabolic and contractile properties, which are largely determined by the myosin heavy chain isoform (MHC) or isoform combination that the fiber expresses. In previous studies, SDS-PAGE single fiber analysis has been utilized as a method to determine MHC isoform distribution and single fiber type distribution in skeletal muscle. Herein, a methodological approach to analyze MHC isoform and fiber type distribution in skeletal muscle was fine-tuned for use in human and rodent studies. In the future, this revised methodology will be implemented to evaluate the effects of obesity and exercise on the phenotypic fiber type composition of skeletal muscle.

Seven human subjects with body mass indices (BMIs) ranging from 19.4 kg/ m2 to 26.7 kg/ m2 and six human subjects with BMIs ranging from 32.1 kg/ m2 to 37.6 kg/ m2 were recruited and subjected to 45-minute bouts of acute exercise to look at the changes in the plasma concentration of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA) in response to acute physical activity. Plasma HVA concentration was measured before exercise and during the last 10 minutes of the exercise bout via competitive ELISA. On average the optical density (OD) of the samples taken from lean subjects decreased from 0.203 before exercise to 0.192 during exercise, indicating increased plasma HVA concentration. In subjects with obesity OD increased from 0.210 before exercise to 0.219 during exercise, indicating reduced plasma HVA concentration. These differences in OD were not statistically significant. Between the lean group and the group with obesity no significant difference was observed between the OD of the plasma samples taken before exercise, but a significant difference (p = 0.0209) was observed between the ODs of the samples taken after exercise. This indicated that there was a significant difference between the percent changes in OD between the lean group and the group with obesity, which suggested that there may be a body weight-dependent difference in the amount of dopamine released in response to exercise. Because of the lack of significance in the changes in OD within the lean group and the group with obesity the results of this study were insufficient to conclude that this difference is not due to chance, but further investigation is warranted.

Since 1975, the prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled around the world. In 2016, 39% of adults, or 1.9 billion people, were considered overweight, and 13% of adults, or 650 million people, were considered obese. Furthermore, Cardiovascular disease remains to be the leading cause of death for adults in the United States, with 655,000 people dying from related conditions and consequences each year. Including fiber in one’s dietary regimen has been shown to greatly improve health outcomes in regards to these two areas of health. However, not much literature is available on the effects of corn-based fiber, especially detailing the individual components of the grain itself. The purpose of this preliminary study was to test the differences in influence on both LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides between treatments based on whole-grain corn flour, refined corn flour, and 50% refined corn flour + 50% corn bran derived from whole grain cornmeal (excellent fiber) in healthy overweight (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2) adults (ages 18 - 70) with high LDL cholesterol (LDL ≥ 120mg/dL). 20 participants, ages 18 - 64 (10 males, 10 females) were involved. Data was derived from blood draws taken before and after each of the three treatments as well as before and after each treatment’s wash out periods. A general linear model was used to assess the effect of corn products on circulating concentrations of LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides. From the model, it was found that the whole-grain corn flour and the 50% refined corn flour + 50% corn bran drive from whole grain cornmeal treatments produced a higher, similar benefit in reductions in LDL-cholesterol. However, the whole grain flour, refined flour, and bran-based fiber treatments did not influence the triglyceride levels of the participants throughout this study. Further research is needed to elucidate the effects of these fiber items on cardiometabolic disease markers in the long-term as well as with a larger sample size.

The incidence of childhood obesity has become increasingly prevalent in the United States in recent years. The development of obesity at any age, but especially in adolescence, can have lasting negative effects in the form of cardiometabolic disease, increased incurred healthcare costs, and potential negative effects on quality of life. In recent years, a rising trend of obesity, in both adults and adolescents, has been observed in lower income and ethnic groups. Increased adiposity can be influenced by modifiable factors -(physical activity, caloric intake, or sleep) or by non-modifiable factors (ethnicity, genetic predispositions, and socioeconomic status). The influence of these factors can be observed in individuals of all ages, including infants. A common indicator of the development of childhood obesity is rapid weight gain (RWG) within an infant’s first year of life. The composition of the gut microbiome can act as a predictor for RWG and the development of childhood obesity. Infants are exposed to an immense microbial load when they are born and their gut microbiome is continually diversified through their method of feeding and the subsequent introduction to solid foods. While currently understudied, it is understood that cultural and socioeconomic factors influence the development of the gut microbiome, which is further explored in this analysis. The DNA from 51 fecal samples from infants ranging from 3 weeks to 12 months in age was extracted and sequenced using next-generation sequencing, and the resulting sequences were analyzed using QIIME 2. Results from alpha-diversity and beta-diversity metrics showed significant differences in the gut microbiome of infants when comparing groups based on baby race/ethnicity, household income, and mom’s education. These findings suggest the importance of sociodemographic characteristics in shaping the gut microbiome and suggest the importance of future studies including diverse populations in gut microbiome work.